Orphans' Decree

The Orphans' Decree was a law in the Kingdom of Yemen mandating the forced conversion of Jewish orphans to Islam promulgated by the Zaydi. According to one source, the decree has "no parallel in other countries".[1]

This law, like all laws applying to dhimmi, was applied more or less ruthlessly depending upon the inclination local and royal officials.[2] It was aggressively enforced at least some of the time and in some regions under Imam Yahya (1918–1948).[3][2]

Although forced conversion is not widely recognized under Islamic laws, historian and Arabist Shelomo Dov Goitein believes that a forced conversion of orphans could have been justified by the revelation attributed to Muhammad that states: "Every person is born to the natural religion [Islam], and only his parents make a Jew or a Christian out of him."[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Eraqi-Klorman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Yehuda Nini was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Simon, Reeva Spector; Laskier, Michael Menachem & Reguer, Sara, eds. (2003) The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times. New York: Columbia University Press; p. 392